


most confusing

by AlmondRose



Series: bad end [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, im not even sure how to tag this tbh, this probably doesn't even make sense lol!, uhhhhhhhhhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10939335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmondRose/pseuds/AlmondRose
Summary: there's someone in jason's safehouse. bruce goes to check it out.





	most confusing

**Author's Note:**

> ?????i might write more of this but i'm not sure? just gonna throw this in as a oneshot but i might write more who knows sorry 
> 
> this was gonna be a full fic but i realized i didn't really have a plot? so im just gonna post this and call it a day

Bruce is at Jason’s grave when it happens. 

 

His communicator beeps in his pocket, and at first he thinks there’s some sort of emergency with Steph, so he pulls it out and the screen says that there’s  _ someone at one of Jason’s safehouses _ . The problem is that Bruce knows that’s impossible, but he also can’t help but look at Jason’s gravestone hopefully. 

 

Maybe….no, best not to get his hopes up. Bruce heaves out a sigh and hopes it’s not just a particularly large cat, and he looks away from Jason’s grave, promising himself--and Jason--that he’ll come back later. 

 

He drives his car over to the apartment, parking in an alley and shoving down deja vu. Bruce is in civies but he’s not really ever not anymore, so he brushes down his jacket and scales the side of the wall, making sure to avoid windows, before he slides the window to the safehouse open and slips in, still silent after all these years. 

 

Bruce stands in the shadows because old habits are hard to break, and no lights are on, anyway. Actually, one  _ is  _ on in the kitchen, and Bruce moves silently over to inspect the light. 

 

There’s a teenage girl at the kitchen table, with a glass of water next to her and she’s tracing the dust on the table. This is not what Bruce was expecting but also not the most surprising thing it could’ve been. 

 

“Do you know whose house this is?” Bruce asks, stepping out of the shadows. The girl jumps, her water upending under her hand and spilling on the table.

 

“Who are you?” she asks, looking at Bruce with wide eyes. Bruce doesn’t answer. 

 

“Do you?” he asks. 

 

“Of course,” she says. “And Red Hood’s gonna kill you, so maybe you should leave or something.”

 

Bruce blinks and realizes that she doesn’t know. 

 

“Why are you here?” he asks instead of telling her.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the girl says, crossing her arms. 

 

“Fine,” Bruce says. He drags a chair around from the table and sits. He has a sneaking suspicion on how this event will conclude. 

 

“What are you doing?” she asks. 

 

“Waiting with you,” Bruce says. “You are waiting, right?”

 

“Yeah…” she says suspiciously. Bruce makes a noise of agreement and puts his arms behind his head. 

  
  


A long time passes; Bruce isn’t sure how long. 

  
  


“He...he took care of me,” the girl confesses, breaking the silence. “My dad beat my mom, and Red Hood saved me. Um. I stayed with him for a few months before he found me a better family.” She laughs bitterly. “It wasn’t  _ actually  _ better, but. He tried. And he said...he said I could--I could come back. If I needed to. So.”

 

“Sounds like him,” Bruce offers. His internal Jason is saying something snarky about Bruce’s adopting habits, and his internal Dick fires back with an “Apparently you do it too, dork.” Bruce ignores them. 

 

The girl looks vulnerable, and Bruce knows that telling him that much must’ve been hard for her. 

 

“You’re very brave,” he says. 

 

“I guess,” she mumbles, and they fall into silence again. 

 

After an even longer amount of time, the girl sags. 

 

“I’ve been waiting outside the house for a while,” she says, quiet. “A couple days. “Only tonight did I break in, and--he’s not coming, is he.” It’s not a question. Bruce nods. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he says. “But Red Hood--he’s dead.”

 

The words are hard to get out and even harder to watch her hear. Her eyes go wide and she looks like she’s about to cry, but she pushes the tears back. Street kids don’t cry in front of strangers. 

“But--” she says. “But he--he’d died before, so he’ll--he’ll come back, right?”

 

“I don’t know,” Bruce says, because he’s been thinking the same thing ever since D--the first death. He supposes one of them  _ might,  _ but somehow he thinks it’s permanent, this time. 

 

“ _ No,”  _ the girl whispers. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Bruce says. “I really am.” 

 

“Who’re you, then?” she asks, and Bruce almost says  _ “I’m Batman”  _ but that’s not right, so he just says the truth. 

 

“I’m his father.”

 

“Oh,” the girl says. “I’m Dot.”

 

“Hello, Dot,” Bruce says. “Do you want to--”

 

His comm buzzes and he turns it on.

 

“Yeah?” he says, turning away. 

 

“Bruce, it’s ass-o’clock in the morning and you aren’t home yet,” Steph says. “Normally I wouldn’t be worried, but...you were visiting his grave. Everything okay?”

 

“I’ve found a small situation and lost track of time,” Bruce says. “Everything’s fine.”

 

“Is this gonna end in an adoption?” Steph asks. Bruce doesn’t answer. “ _ Bruce,  _ come on, I was  _ kidding--” _

 

Bruce cuts her off and turns back to Dot. 

 

“Sorry about that,” he says. 

 

“Whatever,” she mumbles. “Jason used to do it, too.”

 

“Of course. Speaking of Jason, do you want me to…...take you back to my house?”

 

“What?”

 

“I can easily get you into a better foster system, if you want,” Bruce says. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’d like to fulfil Jason’s promise of letting you come by whenever you want.” 

 

“Uh,” Dot says. “Um. I guess--” Her stomach cuts her off my growling loudly; she flushes. “Maybe for a little bit, like to get me some...food. Then I’ll leave.”

 

“Of course,” Bruce says, standing up. 

 

“Only for a few days,” Dot says.

 

“I know.” 

 

“I’m serious!” Bruce was heading for the door, and Dot followed him. 

 

“I believe you,” Bruce said, and he lead Dot down to his car. 

 

“This is  _ super nice,”  _ she says as she slides into the passenger seat. 

 

“I know,” Bruce says. “I’m rich. Is that a problem?”

 

“More food for me,” Dot mumbles, and Bruce smiles and starts to drive. It’s early morning, like Steph said, around five or six. Gotham is still waking, and Bruce loves to see it like this. 

 

He drives past the city and to the Manor--and when Dot sees the W emblazoned on the gates, she asks quietly if he’s Bruce Wayne. 

 

He gives an affirmative and keeps driving. He pulls into the garage and parks. 

 

“Do you live alone in this giant house?” Dot asks, getting out of the car.

 

“No,” Bruce says. “No, I don’t.”

 

“Oh,” Dot says. “Are you married or somethin’?”

 

“No,” Bruce says. “I live with my daughter and my grandchildren.”

 

“Okay,” Dot says, and Bruce pushes open the door that leads inside. 

 

“Come on,” he says, and he leads Dot to the kitchen. Rey and Mira are at the counter, bickering. 

 

“I said  _ scrambled  _ eggs!” Mira says, gesturing wildly. 

 

“I’m one hundred percent sure that you said  _ over easy,”  _ Rey says, shoving a plate of eggs at Mira. 

 

“That doesn’t even sound similar!” Mira protests, pushing the plate away. 

 

“I’ll take those,” Bruce says, taking the eggs from Mira and handing them to Dot. “There.”

 

“Oh my god thank you,” Dot says. 

 

“Grandpa,” Rey says, sounding exasperated. “Did you get another one?”

 

“I haven’t adopted someone in  _ at least  _ three years,” Bruce grumbles. “And Steph doesn’t even count.”

 

“Bet she’d be glad to hear that,” Jamie calls, walking by. 

 

“Anyway,” Dot says, looking up from stuffing her face with her eggs. “I’m only staying for a few days.”

 

“That’s what they all say,” Rey says. 

 

“Shut up,” Mira says. Rey laughs. 

 

“Dot, this is Mira and Rey. The boy who just walked by was Jamie.”

 

“My pronouns are any and all,” Rey says, “and my twin is identical to me but eschews pronouns and goes by ‘they’ or ‘them’.”

 

“Uh,” Dot says. “Okay?” 

 

“Both of them are  _ idiots,”  _ Mira says. “I’m going to make my  _ own  _ eggs.”

 

“You do you, small child,” Rey says. Mira hisses at him and gets up to cook.

 

“I’m going to go tell Steph I’m back,” Bruce says. “And about Dot. One of you show Dot around.” He leaves and heads down to the cave. 

 

Steph’s doing pull-ups, and Juliet and Anne are sparring. 

 

“I’m back,” Bruce says, shooing Jack away from his chair in front of the batcomputer and sitting.

 

“Okay,” Steph says. “Who did you adopt?”

 

“I  _ didn’t,”  _ Bruce says. “But apparently Jason was sheltering a girl for a while and gave her to a family who turned out to be as bad as her own.”

 

“Ouch,” Steph says, doing a flip on the pull-up bar. 

 

“And she went to Jason’s safehouse to see if he’d take care of her,” Bruce continues. 

 

“Double ouch,” Steph says. “What’d you say?”

 

“She’s here, obviously,” Bruce grumbles. Steph laughs. 

 

“More cousins!” Anne says, doing a back handspring away from Juliet. 

 

“Jason didn’t actually adopt her,” Bruce says.

 

“Okay, sure, whatever,” Anne says. 

 

“Yeah,” Jack says. 

 

“Is she gonna stay?” Steph asks, flipping off of the bar. 

 

“She says she isn’t,” Bruce says. 

 

“I’ll go prepare her a bedroom,” Jack says, sprinting up the stairs. Bruce heaves out a sigh. 

 

“Let’s go meet her and introduce her to all the other heathens in this house,” Steph says brightly. Juliet is hanging off of Steph’s back and Anne does a cartwheel.

 

“Fine,” Bruce says. “Back up we go.” 

 

“I’ll get everyone!” Anne says, and she runs off. Bruce, Steph, and Juliet go up the stairs and meet Mira, Rey, and Dot in the kitchen. 

 

“Anne’s getting everyone else,” Juliet informs the room at large. 

 

“Hello,” Dot says, looking at the newcomers sideways. 

 

“I’m Stephanie, but you can call me Steph, and this little monkey is Juliet,” Steph introduces. “I hear your name is Dot?”

 

“Yeah. Are you Batman?” Dot says, turning to Bruce. “Because Arsenal said that Jason’s dad was Batman, and--”

 

“I was,” Bruce says. “A long time ago.”

 

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Steph snorts, and Dot turns to her. 

 

“So you’re the daughter Bruce claimed he lives with?” she asks. Steph nods. “And what about the grandchildren? I mean I guess that’s all of you--” Dot sweeps her arm around the room-- “But do you have any kids?”

 

“Nope,” Steph says, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I can’t claim ownership to any of these kidlings, besides Juliet here who’s  legally but not biologically mine.”

 

“So she’s adopted?”

 

“Sort of,” Steph says. Then Anne runs in with everyone else behind her. 

 

“Hi!” she says, thrusting her hand at Dot. “I’m Anne!”

 

“Hi,” Dot says. “I’m Dot.”

 

“I’m Mar, Rey’s twin,” Mar says, crossing their arms. “Don’t believe  _ anything  _ Rey’s said about me.”

 

“I’m Henry. I’m not actually related to anyone here.”

 

“Except me!” Anne says, bouncing next to her cousin. Henry ruffles her hair. 

 

“I’m Jamie, I saw you for a second earlier,” Jamie says. “That’s Jack.”

 

“Hey,” Jack says. “By the way, Grandpa, Pa called and I said he could come over for dinner tonight.”

 

“ _ Jack,”  _ Bruce says, exasperated. 

 

“What?” Jack cries. “He  _ always  _ comes over!” 

 

“Is he bringing Jon?” Mira asks. 

 

“Maybe?” Jack shrugs. 

 

“Wait, who?” Dot asks. 

 

“My other grandpa,” Jack says. 

 

“Oh,” Dot says. “Is Bruce and him friends?”

 

“Yeeeeeah they are,” Rey says, waggling her eyebrows. 

 

“Shut  _ up,”  _ Jamie says. “Wait, speaking of Clark--”

 

“You can go to Star if you can get yourself there,” Bruce says. “I’ve said this before.”

 

“Fine,” Jamie says. “Steph, can I borrow the batmobile?”

 

“Wait, what?” Dot asks. 

 

“Jamie’s mom’s ex-boyfriend keeps inviting him over to Star City and he wants to go for some reason,” Mira relates. 

 

“Oh,” Dot says. “This is confusing.”

 

“Welcome to the most confusing family in the superhero world, kid,” Steph says. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> iiiiiin case you're wondering
> 
> Henry-son of hank clover and [some woman]. the girl was pregnant before hank died but neither of them knew at the time  
> Rey & Mar-wally and dick's adopted children  
> Jamie-dinah and babs's son  
> Anne-duke and claire's daughter  
> Miranda-harper and cass's daughter  
> Jack-tim and kon's daughter  
> Juliet-damian's daughter (she's a clone)
> 
> also all those people are dead and steph is batman, sorry i guess


End file.
